STAAR Review 7

Learning Objectives

• What difficulties did Americans have

adjusting to peace after World War I?

• What was the1920s Republican Presidents

approach to a laissez-faire government?

• What made the Roaring 20s roar?

• How did cultural values change?

• What impact did the “Harlem Renaissance”

have on America?

The Twenties

• After World War I, America would

enter a new age of prosperity

with automobiles, telephones,

and electricity making life better.

• American’s began focusing on

more on making money and

enjoying themselves.

• The 20s would be a period of

economic prosperity and of new

cultural values.

• But, it didn’t start that way!

Learning Objective

What were some difficulties Americans faced

adjusting to peace after World War I?

Things to look for ---

1. Government began to spend less money.

2. Recession in the US economy.

3. Jobs became harder to find.

4. Isolationism became the American theme.

5. Fear of the spread of Communism.

The Post War Recession

• After World War 1, America went

into a period of isolationism, refusing

to be drawn into Europe’s drama.

• Government stopped spending

money on the war effort.

• Factories shut down to convert from

making war materials to making

civilian products.

• Soldiers returned home from war

and had a hard time finding work.

• Farmers lost money since their

European market was now gone.

The Red Scare

• The end of World War 1 brought new

fears to Americans about Communists,

anarchists, and immigrants.

• In 1917, the Russians led by Lenin had

a revolution, but instead of setting up a

democracy, it became a communist

nation.

• Communists threatened to spread their

revolution to other nations in Europe.

• When labor strikes hit the USA in 1919

many in the USA feared a communist

revolution happening in the U.S.

The Palmer Raids:

• 1919, Italian anarchists sets off a bomb

at Attorney General Palmers’s house.

• It was one of series of attacks across

America on that day.

• The nation demanded action be taken.

• The US Attorney General rounded up

suspected communists, without

warrants, and had them jailed or

deported, often without any evidence of

wrongdoing.

The Red Scare

This new fear of communism led the government to violate many individuals civil rights.

The Red Scare

Sacco and Vanzetti:

• - Two Italian immigrants who

admitted to being communist

were tried, convicted,

and executed of a robbery &

murder on flimsy evidence.

• - Many thought they were

executed for being anarchists

and communists.

This new fear of communism led the government to violate many individuals civil rights.

• The Red Scare, radical

anarchist bombings, and the

Sacco & Vanzetti trial led to a

rise in nativism – the dislike

of foreigners.

• Nativists believed white

Protestant Americans were

superior to others.

• These nativist attitudes

would bring restrictions on

immigration.

Rise of Nativism

Rise of Nativism• In the early 1900s over 70% of immigrants

to the USA were from Eastern & Southern

Europe, they were the ‘New Immigrant’

STAAR Practice

Why did

immigration drop to

almost nothing in

1914, and then

remained at a low

level until 1920?

World War I (1914-1917)

stopped travel between

Europe and the USA

• After World War 1,

immigration was

reduced to a trickle as

nativists pushed for

Congress to restrict

European immigration

for the first time.

Rise of Nativism

• The ‘New Immigrant’ without skills, education, or

ability to speak English was seen as a threat to

USA’s economic stability.

• These ‘New Immigrants’ settled in the cities and

added to the strain of providing public services.

Rise of Nativism

STAAR Practice

What do the

shadows behind

the well dressed

men represent?

They show that

even these

wealthy men were

once immigrants.

Immigration Acts

of 1921, 1924, and 1929

• These were laws designed to keep

immigrants from Eastern and

Southern Europe out of America.

• Quotas were set allowing a certain

number of immigrants from each

nation to enter the USA.

• Great Britain, Ireland, & Germany

were allowed the most, while the

‘New Immigrant’ was limited, and

the Asians were totally stopped.

Rise of Nativism

Eugenics• During the 1920s there was a

belief in the superiority of the

Anglo-Saxon ‘race’.

• The theory of Eugenics was the

belief that the human race could

be improved by breeding.

• Many held racist beliefs that light-skinned, blond-

haired, blue-eyed people were superior.

• Social Darwinism was the idea that the different

races competed for survival just like plants and

animals did, this explained that the rich were rich

because they were superior or better adapted.

Learning Objective

What was the1920s Republican Presidents

approach to a laissez-faire government?

Things to look for ---

1. Laissez-faire attitude that limited

government interference in business.

2. Big supporters of Big business.

Three Republican Presidents:

Harding, Coolidge, & HooverDuring the 1920s, three Republicans would control

the White House for twelve years.

They supported a laissez-faire policy of minimal

government interference in business activities.

Warren Harding Herbert HooverCalvin Coolidge

Pres. Warren G. Harding• In 1920, Warren Harding won

the presidency in a landslide.

• Pres. Harding captured the

national spirit with his campaign

slogan of ‘return to normalcy’.

• Harding focused less on foreign

policy and more on peace and

prosperity at home.

• Under Harding the USA refused

to join the League of Nations, it

lowered taxes, and restricted

immigration.

Pres. Warren G. Harding

• Pres. Harding urged tolerance towards

other races, supported greater rights

for African Americans, like anti-

lynching laws and tolerance of Jews.

• Pres. Harding appointed friends –

the Ohio Gang - to positions of power.

• The Teapot Dome Scandal was one

of the worst in history, as one of

Harding’s Cabinet members leased

government land to friends for bribes.

• Additional scandals included Harding

appointees stealing U.S.A.’s money.

The Spoils System

Pres. Calvin Coolidge• Calvin Coolidge served as Pres.

Harding’s Vice Pres., when Harding

died, Coolidge became President.

• Coolidge was re-elected again in 1924

on a pro-business policy and the

slogan “Keep Cool With Coolidge”.

• “Silent Cal’ had a motto of:

“the business of America is business.”

• The U.S. economy boomed under

Coolidge, in fact some say that his

laissez-faire attitude towards the

economy led to over speculation that

resulted in the stock market crash.

Pres. Herbert Hoover

• Herbert Hoover organized U.S. food

production in WW 1 and predicted the

end of poverty if elected president.

• Hoover was impressed with the

achievement of business in raising

the standard of living in America.

• Hoover said this ‘rugged individualism’

had happened because: – Individuals were given equal opportunities,

– They had a free education,

– They had a will to succeed

• Hoover felt too much government

interference in business would ruin a

good thing.

Learning Objective

What made the Roaring 20s roar?

Things to look for ---

1. The automobile and other industries.

2. More efficient production techniques.

3. Advertising and mass consumption.

4. Stock market speculation.

• Laissez-faire Economics

• Rise of the Automobile

• Other New Industries

• More Efficient Production

Techniques

• Age of Mass Consumption

Factors Responsible for

the Prosperity of the 1920s

1925 Ford Model T

The Rise of the Automobile

• The single most important factor

behind the prosperity of the 1920s

was the expanded use of the

automobile.

• Cars greatly affected all aspects

of American life, as ownership

rose from 8 to 24 million owners.

• By 1929 1 out of every 9 jobs was

in an auto-related business.

• It also stimulated other industries

like oil, steel, glass, & rubber.

• Cars gave people mobility.

• Families went on vacations or to visit relatives.

• People moved out of inner cities to the suburbs.

• School buses allowed rural student to attend

school regularly for the first time.

• Rural people were no longer as isolated.

The Rise of the Automobile

Henry Ford• Henry Ford didn’t invent the car,

but he did perfect a way to make

them cheaper and faster so more

people could afford a car.

• Ford pioneered the use of the

assembly line to mass produce

cars.

• By 1924 Ford was producing one

car every 10 seconds at a price of

$300 per car.

• He increased workers wages so

they could afford to buy a car and

other goods being mass produced

Henry Ford’s Assembly Line

Rise of Other New Industries

• The 1920s saw new discoveries

and inventions in almost every

field, opening the way for many

new businesses.

• Inventions made improvements in

transmitting electricity to homes,

businesses, & factories.

• New household appliances like

vacuum cleaners, refrigerators,

toasters, coffee makers, stoves,

radios, and motion pictures made

life easier and more fun.

First Flights

• Wright Brothers – in 1902

at Kitty Hawk, North

Carolina became first to fly.

• Glenn Curtiss – in 1908

designed a seaplane that

could take off and land on

water.

• Curtiss eventually flew his

hydroeroplane and marked

the birth of the U.S. Naval

aviation.

More Efficient Production Techniques

• New manufacturing techniques,

such as the assembly line, led to

improved efficiency.

• As efficiency increased consumers

benefitted from lower prices for

goods.

• An unintended consequences of

this improved efficiency was that

skilled workers were no longer

needed leading to an increase in

unemployment.

The Age of Mass Consumption

• Production techniques changed and

so did patterns of consumption.

• Goods began to be mass marketed

on a national level.

• Advertising stimulated demand.

• Workers were receiving higher

wages and they had more money to

spend and also more leisure time.

• The more money a person made

the more things thing’s they wanted

to buy.

• Consumers for the first time

began buying on credit.

• VISA, MasterCard, and other

credit cards were not yet

around, but installment plans

were easy for a person to pay a

small down payment and take

the item home and then pay a

little each month.

• Suddenly Americans were in

debt!

The Age of Mass Consumption

Speculation Boom

• Speculation is the purchase of

an item, not for personal use,

but in the hope of selling it later

at a higher price, to make a

quick n’ easy profit!

• 1920s saw millions speculate in

the stock market and in real

estate (buying property).

• The price of a share of a

corporation skyrocketed as

more and more people began to

invest in the stock market.

Uneven Prosperity • But not everyone shared in the

prosperity of the 1920s.

• A small percentage of Americans

had the largest percent of the wealth.

• With new farm equipment, electricity

& fertilizers costs, farmers faced

lower incomes due to overproduction

of crops.

• Textile workers faced competition for

jobs with immigrants.

• Minority Groups faced discrimination.

Learning Objective

How did cultural values change?

Things to look for ---

1. Prohibition and the 18th Amendment.

2. Religion vs. Science.

Temperance Movement and Prohibition

• During the Progressive Era the

growth of Temperance Movement

(those against the drinking of alcohol) led to

the passage of 18th Amendment.

• The Temperance Movement

thought that drinking alcohol was

sinful, led to crime, and domestic

violence.

• Frances Willard was an outspoken

leader of Temperance Movement,

women’s rights, women’s suffrage &

better working conditions for labor.

Prohibition - 18th Amendment

• In 1919, the U.S. Congress passed the 18th Amendment to the Constitution which banned the manufacture, sale, or distribution of alcohol.

• But instead of people obeying the law there was a growing disrespect for the law.

• Speakeasies and bootleggingalcohol allowed the average consumer to obtain liquor without any problems.

Speakeasies

Prohibition - 18th Amendment

• Many Americans believed that Prohibition tried to force one group’s morals on others.

• Still others opposed Prohibition because it closed breweries, bars, and distilleries where thousands worked.

• Many said that Prohibition led to an increase in organized crime, the gangsters which willingly supplied illegal booze to consumers became rich and famous.

• By 1933, the American public

saw that Prohibition was a ‘failed

experiment’.

• People had been unwilling to

accept the law, Pres. Harding

even served alcohol in the White

House.

• The 21st Amendment repealed

or did away with Prohibition.

• Prohibition proved that unpopular

laws are often unenforceable.

Prohibition - 18th Amendment

The Bible vs. Science

Fundamentalism vs. Modernism

The Scopes Monkey Trial

In the 1920s many southern states passed laws

making it illegal to teach

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution in schools.

John Scopes taught evolution in his Tennessee

Biology class and was arrested and put on trial for it.

The Scopes Monkey Trial became the most

sensational trial of the decade.

• William Jennings Bryan prosecuted

John Scopes and Clarence Darrow

defended him.

• The Scopes Trial was the first trial to

be broadcast over radio, as it pitted

older religious beliefs against newer

scientific theories (like Evolution),

• Darrow cross-examined Bryan about

inconsistencies in the Bible and made

him look old school and out of touch

with the modern world.

• The result of the trial was that Scopes

was found guilty and fined $1.

The Scopes Monkey Trial

Man did

not come

from a

monkey

You

haven’t

seen my

cousin

Learning Objective

How did new values encourage greater

openness and self-expression?

Things to look for ---

1. Flappers and women’s changing role.

2. Different forms of Music blend together.

3. Those crazy kids!

4. The Harlem Renaissance

The Emergence of New Values

Traditional values that had existed in

America before the 1920s were found to be

old and outdated.

Instead the 1920s led to newer, more

modern values which encouraged a greater

openness and self-expression.

Changes in music, art, literature, and

sexuality provided the opportunity for

expression of these freedoms.

Changing Roles of Women

• Women had demonstrated their

abilities during World War I.

• A booming economy created

new jobs & more women began

working outside the home.

• Women wanted equality with

men in all areas.

• In 1920, the 19th Amendment

gave women suffrage or the

right to vote.

These women worked

for women’s suffrage

Voting Rights,

Women & the

19th

Amendment

• A new independent attitude began to appear among young, urban women.

• These new women came to be known as flappers.

• These flappers took more risks, cut their hair short, wore short skirts, smoked and drank in public, danced, and even chewed gum.

Changing Roles of Women

Flappers came to symbolize

the new freedoms that many

women felt during the 1920s

• Women of today owe a great deal to the flappers who

helped women gain their independent spirit!

Flappers

STAAR Practice – Question # 1

• Compare the images to answer the question below.

Which image shows the changing roles of

women as women began to experiment with

new found freedoms during the 1920s?

Image A

Image B

Answer

Image B Image A Image B

Tin Pan Alley

• Following the Civil War, thousands

of pianos were sold, as a result the

sale of sheet music exploded.

• Around 1910, New York City

became the music publishing

capital.

• Tin Pan Alley, a section of New

York, was the center of this

activity.

• Song-writing and musical ideas

mixed together to form American

popular music.

• Publisher found that average people

bought sheet music for popular tunes,

just so they could play this music at

home.

• Vaudeville became the most popular

form of entertainment and its shows

had a great need for music.

• Musicians like, Scott Joplin, Irving

Berlin, Cole Porter, and George

Gershwin became famous.

Tin Pan Alley

Click

Image

Youth and the Lost Generation

• During the 1920s, young

adults were responsible for

zany fads, like flagpole sitting

and marathon dancing.

• Dances like the Charleston

became wildly popular.

• New words came into use:– Bootlegging – hiding booze in your boot or pant

leg.

– Speakeasies – place to buy illegal booze.

– Flat Tire – dull, or boring person

– Gam – a girl’s leg

– Jake – okay

– Spifflicated - drunk

– White Cow – a vanilla milkshake

The Charleston

Fads and Fashions of the 20s

• A new group of writers, known

as the “Lost Generation”,

rejected the desire for

material wealth.

• These writers believed they

did not fit the patterns of

everyday life after the horrors

of World War I.

• The Lost Generation felt

America had become overly

materialistic and lacked

spirituality.

Youth and the Lost GenerationErnest

Hemingway

Wrote about

W.W. I

experiences in

‘A Farewell to

Arms’

Sinclair Lewis

Ridiculed the

narrowness and

hypocrisy of

American life in

‘Main Street’

F. Scott

Fitzgerald

About rich, but

unhappy man in

‘Great Gatsby’

The Great Migration

• During the 1920s many African Americans began moving out of the South to the ‘Promised Land’ of the Northern cities.

• This mass movement became known as the Great Migration.

• They left in search of jobs in the industrial cities, and to escape sharecropping, tenant farming, and the deep racism of the South.

• It changed the culture of these northern cities, especially Harlem, a section of New York.

The Harlem Renaissance

• The 1920s is often called the

Jazz Age, because of the

importance of the new form of

African American music.

• This ‘rebirth’ in the interest of

the African American culture

became known as the

“Harlem Renaissance”.

• The Renaissance was more

than just about the music, it

included dance, visual arts,

literature, and poetry.Cab Calloway at the Cotton Club

The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance

• Langston Hughes –

writer/poet who expressed his

pride in his heritage as well as

attacking racism.

• Countee Cullen – won more

major literary awards than any

other African American writer.

• Zora Neale Hurston – one of

first successful African

American women writers, her

greatest novel “Their Eyes

Watching God”

Back-to-Africa Movement

• Marcus Garvey was a controversial political activist know for his fiery speeches and his fancy uniforms.

• Garvey formed the ‘Universal Negro Improvement League’ with a goal of total liberation of African people around the world.

• There was disillusionment with those who had ‘migrated’ to the North.

• The frustration of coping with urban life and the racism that had followed many African Americans set the stage for his Back-to-Africa Movement.

Popular New Heroes

• The 1920s saw people

have more leisure time and

a greater opportunity for

entertainment.

• The American public

embraced spectator sports,

the radio, movies, and

magazines.

• On the radio people tuned

into hear drama, crime, or

mystery stories.

• Charlie Chaplin was one of

the early movie stars.Charlie Chaplin movie

It happened in the 1920s

Charles Lindbergh

• In the 1920s a $25,000 reward

was offered to the 1st person to

fly across the Atlantic Ocean to

deliver the mail.

• On May 20, 1927, Charles

Lindbergh became the first

person to fly solo across the

Atlantic.

• Lindbergh’s flight made him a

national hero and he opened the

way for commercial flights

between America and Europe!

Popular New Heroes

Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey

Sports figures became legendary heroes during the 1920s,

Click on Black Screen to see

Babe Ruth

Click on Black Screen to see

Jack Dempsey

Summary of the Roaring 20s

The 1920s started out slowly but grew into a period of

great prosperity.

The Twenties was a time of great excitement and rapid

changes that ended with a crash!

A fear of communism, immigrants, & alcohol helped

create feelings of mistrust, hatred, and unlawfulness.

Women’s suffrage, flappers, Ford cars, the Harlem

Renaissance, and new technologies made the 1920s

an exciting time to live.

The 20s roared until the stock market crashed and

brought on the Great Depression.